Related Content

He said the AFL should enforce vigorous concussion rules for players, naming stars such as Joel Selwood and Kurt Tippett as players "who get knocked out two or three times a year and nearly play every (time) the week after".

"There's different levels of concussion, and you're a certain level, if you get knocked out, there's got to be one month, two months off," Williams told SEN.

Advertisement

"They've got to get treatment and they've got to make sure they're right before they come back.

"They have got to do something about it and they've got to make sure it's protecting the player."

Williams was speaking the morning after a revealing interview he and his wife Mary did with Channel 7's Sunday Night program where he admitted he struggled to remember the highlight of his career, the 1995 Carlton premiership, despite winning the Norm Smith Medal as the best player.

"Obviously I know that I won the premiership in 1995 and things like that, but I don't remember a lot about the game, no I don't," he told Channel 7.

"I know I started '84 at Geelong, '86 I can remember, all those main dates, and the grand final loss in '93 and won the Brownlow in '94.

"But the specifics, as you say, like the grand final after the game in the rooms, I remember nothing about that."

Williams said that in his playing days there were no club rules regarding concussion. If you were knocked out and you recovered you were sent back on.

"If you didn't you were a wimp - it was just tradition, you got up and kept going," he said.

His wife Mary has noticed the changes in her husband of 26 years - his forgetfulness and his temper, which she said was becoming worse. "He'll snap at me for no reason, and you think, what's going on here?" she said.

She said the worst part would be if she had to care for him as he aged and he didn't recognise her.

Williams is suffering symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has been detected in athletes with a history of severe concussion and repetitive brain trauma.

He and former North Queensland rugby league player Shaun Valentine have undergone tests at Deakin University covering memory, dexterity and response times, with worrying results.

Their response times matched those of much older men. The doctor running the tests, Alan Pearce, even advised both men to see a neurologist.

But Williams said it wasn't all doom and gloom and he was aware of new urine tests being developed for athletes who suffered concussion.

"If you've got a minor concussion, well you're going to have to have a week off," he told SEN.

"If you get knocked out and you've got serious concussion, you're going to have a month or two months off before you're back to normal again.

"If you get concussion, you can get treatment that helps it during the months going forward."

Williams, who played in the AFL between 1984 and 1997, said he wanted to know about his predicament rather than turn a blind eye to his symptoms.

"I just wanted to get it out there that it is happening, and it has happened," he said.

"There's a lot of players ... I know teammates as well. I go to functions and see older players. I know they've got problems. They need help. They need treatment. And there are things you can do in regards to brain health.

"There are things you can do. I know it sounds all doom and gloom, but there are things you can do. People have to get diagnosed and treated."